Doug Stauber (Seann William Scott) has a number of problems, including the loud banjo player in the next apartment who plunks away at the most inopportune times.

But the 33-year-old Stauber's biggest problems are of a more spiritual nature. As the assistant manager of a Midwest chain grocery store, he must wear a forced smile. He must hear himself addressed as "Doug" and never as "Mr. Stauber." He fears he may remain forever "a short-sleever." (Only the bosses wear long-sleeved shirts.)

His problems may be solved, however, with a new grocery story on the drawing board. His present manager tells him he's a "shoo-in" for the job of managing that new store. With this promotion, he and his wife can afford to buy a house and escape the banjo player. Everything else will then fall into place.

Unfortunately a new assistant manager shows up, one Richard Wehlner (John C. Reilly), freshly arrived from Montreal with his wife and daughter. Musing on the subject of Canadians, Stauber tells himself, "They're not the same as Americans. They're nicer."

Indeed, Wehlner may be too nice. His smile seems more genuine, his friendly waves more enthusiastic, his goodwill more convincing. First thing he does is co-opt the Pepsi rep from Stauber. Next in his sights is the promotion that Stauber covets.

What follows is a desperate struggle between the two, at first concealed under a veil of amiability and as the stakes loom larger, with increasing hostility. Both strive to look good in the eyes of store executives, including a head honcho played with clammy and unforgiving remoteness by Gil Bellows.

Although a comedy, in the hands of director and screenwriter Steve Conrad – a relative newcomer – The Promotion steers away from the obvious comic plot line of making Stauber a hapless innocent and Wehlner a snake. Both characters are sympathetic and both are guilty of underhanded behaviour. Both are rendered more human by their wives, who are willing to sacrifice a great deal to help their husbands land on their feet.

The heart of the movie is Reilly's performance as Wehlner, a man always walking a thin line of disaster. He introduces himself to Stauber early on as a Christian, a drug addict and recovering alcoholic, and eventually reveals that he is an ex-biker to boot. There's a scene where the executives grill Wehlner over a sign found in the deli department of the store. The sign, created by a naughty employee, extols the deli chef for his prowess in "cutting the cheese." Desperation wells up in Wehlner's eyes as he tries to explain how he missed the sign.

"In Canada ... cutting the cheese simply means cutting the actual cheese," he says to his unconvinced inquisitors. "It doesn't have that double thing. (Pause) I missed it because in Canada, it's cracking. (Pause) We crack the cheese."

The Promotion works as a comedy because, in the depths of our dark hearts, we enjoy seeing the woes that beset our comic antagonists. Stauber's problems tend to arise from outside forces, such as the gang of homeboys who hang around the store's parking lot and give him endless hassles. And Wehlner's problems come from his eagerness to do well.

Juggling these two parallel streams of misfortune, and then satisfactorily resolving the conflict between the men, requires some ingenuity on Conrad's part. For the most part he succeeds.

At one point, Stauber and Wehlner actually come to blows outside the store. As they wrestle, the soundtrack features a bland pop-music melody. It's a perfect non-verbal way of stating that the events of the movie are serious, but not serious.

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